V I s 



V 1 s 



tills town, as he attempted to take it from the Moors ; 27 

 nnlos S. of Lamcpjo. N. lat. 40° 45'. W. long. 7^ 46'. 



VISHIANARY, a town of Hindoollan, in Tinevelly ; 

 18 miles S.S.E. of Palamcotta. 



VISHNU, in Mythology, is one of the chief deities of 

 the Hindoo trimurti or triad. He is reckoned the fecond 

 pcrfon of this myfterioiis unity, being a perfonificntion of 

 the preferring power of tiie deity. On the whole, Vifhnu 

 may be called tlie chief of the Hindoo gods ; as cither 

 ui himfelf, or through his confort, or adlivc energy, Lakfhmi, 

 or in his various incarnations, he is, perhaps, the god moil 

 extenfively worfhlpped : if the numerous fefts that indi- 

 reflly adcro him be included, he certainly, is. Like the 

 gods and goddefles of other polytli(>illic people, all the 

 deities of tlie Hindoo Pantheon are refolvable ultimately 

 into one ; that one is the fun, and he, the Hindoo theolo- 

 gians affirm, is merely a fymbol of that '■ infinitely greater 

 light which alone can irradiate our intellefts." This efoteric 

 doftrine is of courfe unknown to the multitude who addrefs 

 and adore Vifluiu, as well as the other deities, in the grolT- 

 neis of idolatrous fuperftition. 



Under the article Siva it is (hewn that Vifhnu, in a 

 ilnftly mythological view, is the preferring attribute : he 

 rcprefents alfo the nvifdom of the deity, as Brahm does his 

 power, and Siva his jujllce. Extending our view, we find 

 that Viihnu metaphyfically is a perfonilication of fpace ; 

 malter and time being affigr.able to his coeternal aflbciates in 

 the Hindoo triad. In phyfics, Viihnu is ".cater, or the 

 humid principle generally : thus he is the air; and in a degree 

 of relationfhip lefs intimate, he is Xhc earth. He is alfo time; 

 and, as before faid, the fun. See Lakshmi, the name of 

 the fekti, or confort of Viihnu ; Saraswati, the confort 

 of the creative Brahma ; and Par\'ati, the aftlve energy of 

 the (leflroying Siva, for farther particulars of x\\\% preferring 

 attribute of the inCeparable Hindoo tiiad. Thefe female 

 divinities, which wc indifcrimin;;telv call the aftive energy, 

 or power, or confort of their refpettive lords, are generally 

 termed their Sakti ; which fee. See alfo Matri. 



As well as wives, or aftive helpmates, the Hindoo gods 

 have feverally vehicles afiigned them. Thefe are termed 

 Vahan; which fee. Viihnu, the Jove of India, has his eagle, 

 like his brother of Greece and Rome. The Hindoo bird is 

 named Garuda and Superna. Under the latter word an ac- 

 count of him will be found. 



The whole race of Hindoos may be theologically compre- 

 hended under thetwo denominatlonsof .SflTOaj and Vaijhnavas, 

 or worlhippers of Siva and Viihnu ; either direftly of the 

 god himfelf, or of hi% faktl ; or indireftly of a fymbol, or 

 through the intervention of an incarnation. This, how- 

 ever, opens a door to diverfity and fchifm. Under the 

 article Sects of Hindoos, we have endeavoured to clafs them 

 in a triple arratigemcnt, of theological, civil, and philofophical 

 feftarifts. To that article, to Saiva, Vaish.nava, and 

 Philosophy of the Hindoos, with others therein referred to, 

 connefted with and farther explaining them, we beg to refer 

 the reader inqulfitive on points relating to tliis branch of the 

 mythology of the Hindoos. See alfo the Hindoo Pantheon. 



Reprcfentatlons of Viihnu are very common in all parts 

 of India ; in metallic cads, in carvings in wood, ftone, or 

 ivory, and in pidures. See the plates of the work juft 

 named. Wlicn in his own perfon, he is depifted young and 

 handfome ; fometimcs two, but commonly four-handed. In 

 \\\i hands are ufually fecn a club or mace, called gada, a 

 (hell or (hank, a lotos or padma, and a difcus or quoit, called 

 chakra or vajra. 



The chakra is a difcus or cjuoit, with a hole In its centre, 

 on which Vifhnu is fabled to turn it round his fore-finger fo 



vehemently, that irrefiflible fire flames from its periphery. 

 It is faid to be a mifDle ftill ufed ; but whatever mythologi- 

 cal niifchief may have enfued from its effects, it does not 

 feem capable of producing much fent from a mortal finger. 

 With the Hindoos now, as with the Egyptians of old, tliis 

 is a very myfterious fymbol ; the word in Sanfcrit means a 

 •wheel, or fomething rotatory ; and has a like meaning in 

 feveral Ipoken dialefts of India. Chakra-varti, or the 

 Chakra-whirler, is a name of Vifhnu, and is fometimes given 

 to other deities and mythological heroes. 



The notion of incarnations of their deities is very common 

 among the Hindoos. This terreftrial manifeltation they 

 call avatara, meaning a defcent. The avataras of Vifhna 

 have- been very numerous ; but ten of them are of great 

 celebrity ; and the hiftories of them form the principal fub- 

 jecl of feveral of the facred poems called Purana (which 

 fee), and of a great many books in all the languages of the 

 Eaft. We fubjoin the names of thefe ten defcents, or dafa- 

 vatara, as they arc called in Sanfcrit ; with fome incidental 

 remarks in addition to what we have offered under feveral of 

 their names, i. Matfyavatara. This, as the name implies, 

 was a defcent in the form of 3.JiJh ; and is repreXented by a 

 figure of Vifhnu, half man half fifh ; reminding us ftrongly 

 of the pifciform god of the AfTyrians ; " fea-moiiller, Dagon 

 named, upwards man and downwards fifh," as well deferibed 

 by Milton. This incarnation and the next are fuppcfed to 

 have allufion to the flood, and reprefentations of half man 

 half fifh to Noah. 2. Kurmavatara, or the defcent in the 

 form of a tortoife. 3. Varahavatara, in the form of a boar. 

 4. Narafingha, or man-lion. 5. Vamana, or the dwarf. 

 6. Parafu Rama, a hero fo named. 7. Rama, furnamcd 

 Chandra. 8. Krilhna. 9. Boodh or Budha, or Sakya. 

 10. Kalki is the laft, and is yet to come, when Vifhnu will 

 appear mounted on a white horfe ; and, as mentioned under 

 the article Kalki, end the prefent iron or kali age, and 

 renovate the creation with an era of purity, called Satya or 

 Sati. See Kali and Suttee. 



Thefe are the chief of the defcents of Vifhnu, called pre- 

 eminently dafavatara. The reader will fee them very iu- 

 genioufly difcufTcd in Maurice's Indian Antiquities and An- 

 cient Hiflory of India. 



Befides thefe grand incarnations, Viflinu has defcended in 

 various places and times, ufually accompanied by his fakli 

 or confort Lakilimi, alfo incarnated for iliat purpofe ; fome- 

 times retaining her own name and fometimcs taking another. 



In the fpirit of Grecian mythology, thefe avataras, as the 

 Hindoos more decoroufiy dofcribe tliem, would appear as 

 the yonx of Jove. But wc have not convenience to purfue, in 

 this place, thefe analogies of eaftern and wellern fable. 



Vifhnu, like Siva, and others of the Hindoo deities, has 

 many names. He is faid to have a thoufand ; but this may 

 mean merely a great many. They are iirung together in a 

 fort of metrical arrangement, and are mentally recited in 

 fome fpecies of worfhlp ; the votary fometimcs holding in his 

 hand a rofary, and dropping a bead as each name and the 

 excited idea occur : to aid abftraftion, the hand and rofary 

 are put into a bag. This filent adoration is called j'a/> ; whicli 

 fee. Among tlie names of Vifhnu are tlie following : 

 Janardana, faid to mean the devourer or abforber of fouls. 

 Vifhnu being the fun, this may have fome folar allufion: 

 otherwlfe we do not fee its applicability to the preferring 

 energy. Heri, a name alfo of Krifhna, who is, indeed, by 

 feftarics, identified with Vifhnu. Htrlprya, meaning be- 

 loved of Hcri, is a name of Lakfhmi. In other avataras, a 

 portion only of his cflencc is faid to have been incvnated ; 

 but in that of Krifhna the whole deity, 111 .ill Ins pk-nitudo of 

 potentiality. Bhagavan, alluding to the lord of nature: 



Bhaga 



